Contact & assessment

If the redness is severe, spreading or accompanied by other symptoms

Do not wait for a routine appointment. Blistering or peeling skin, a rash spreading rapidly, redness with fever or feeling unwell, a hot swollen area with pain out of proportion to how it looks, eye pain or light sensitivity, joint pain, or swelling of the lips, tongue or throat all need prompt or emergency care. A severe reaction with difficulty breathing is an emergency.

Arranging an ordinary assessment

Where the redness is a pattern that has developed gradually and there is none of the above, appointments are made through the hospital outpatient line or through the appointment service described on the appointments page. Say that you are asking about your skin so that the right clinic time is booked. If you are travelling from outside Chongqing, say so when you book, because any tests can sometimes be arranged alongside the assessment in fewer visits.

What to bring

Bring every product you currently put on your face, or a photograph of the labels, including cleansers, moisturisers, sunscreens and anything prescribed, and say how long you have used each and how often. Bring a list of your medicines, since several common ones cause flushing, and note anything you have taken for the redness previously, including anything obtained without a prescription. A fortnight of photographs taken in the same light is genuinely useful.

What happens at the consultation

Expect a history rather than a device. What you use and how you introduced it, when the redness started and whether it comes and goes, what makes it better and worse, what the skin does under light and pressure, whether it stings or burns, and what the eyes and nose look like. You should leave knowing which pattern is present, what is provoking it, what the first steps are, and what the ceiling is.

Questions without booking

Questions about the content of this site, including any correction you believe should be made to it, are welcome through the hospital administration line. Clinical questions about your own case are best answered in person, and we will say so rather than guess.